Under a Crystal Moon
by Caillean
Summary: A young woman discovers Sara's journal and begins her own adventures through the labyrinth. A story is never told the same way twice, however, and nothing in the kingdom of the Goblin King is what it seems on the surface. Cassandra, her story revisited. Stephan, the story in which he originated. Jareth, lost after Sarah left.
1. Once Upon a Time

_A/N: I own no one except Stephan, and even he somehow became a part of the fabric of Labyrinth over the years, so I guess I don't even own him anymore….. it was time to come back to Labyrinth… it's been too long… I couldn't imagine writing anything else after the news this week... RIP my dear Goblin King... thank you for teaching us it was OK to be different, to embrace the strange._

* * *

 **Under A Crystal Moon**

 **by Caillean**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Once Upon a Time**

The dark attic had a strange haze about it, light from a small dormer window reflecting off of clouds of dust floating in the air. Cassandra sneezed. The woman beside her smiled as she reached down and picked up another dust cloth, shaking more of the mites into the air.

"I know it's pretty bad, but once we air it out, I think you might find some nice pieces up here. The previous owners sold it as is, so who knows what we might find, Cass. I know how much you love vintage things." She took in the piles of furniture and boxes and sighed. "It is strange how they just left it all here, but I suppose they wanted to start fresh somewhere else."

"You make it sound like this was a murder house or something." Cassandra mumbled before forcing a smile for her aunt. "Why don't you go back to your unpacking, and I'll look around here for awhile. You're right, maybe there is some cool stuff up here." She forced herself not to flinch as the older woman placed a hand lightly on her shoulder before turning and climbing back down the ladder stairs.

 _I'll probably die from inhaling all this dust, but at least I'll be out of her hair_ , the young woman thought. Cassandra walked across the old wooden floor searching for a clear spot to sit. An impossible task, to be certain. She pulled a sheet off what turned out to be an armchair, and she sat down, a puff of grey sending her into a sneezing fit once more.

This whole move had been a mistake. Why was it, three years after the accident Aunt Ruby decided they had to move away? Things had started to get back to normal.

 _Almost_.

Either way, Cassandra wasn't looking forward to adjusting to a new environment, not in her senior year, certainly. She dragged the toe of her boot, drawing lines in the thick layer of neglect. Everything seemed to be going wrong now. Why couldn't something _good_ happen to her for once in her life? Ever since the fire, Ruby had guarded her as close as a secret. It got worse every passing year. Never allowed to go out with her friends, what few of them she had left.

Aunt Ruby's reasoning was flimsy at best.

 _You should be studying._

Cassandra had already been accepted into two good universities, her grades were fine, if not perfect.

 _When you're eighteen you can do whatever you want._

Six months away. "Might as well be years at this rate." Tears were threatening to fall again. She shut her eyes tight and held them back. Curling up in the armchair, Cassandra felt a strange comfort from the old musty smell surrounding it.

Shifting slightly she felt something hard beneath her thigh. Cassandra reached under herself and felt along the sides of the seat cushion.

 _There_.

She pulled out a small book, no more than a half inch thick with a tan leather cover. In the lower right hand corner, she felt embossed letters. S.W.

"Williams?" Cassandra wondered as she opened the cover. On the first page was an elaborate sketch of a maze, quite intricate. "A labyrinth." She mouthed the word without thinking, slowly tracing it with a finger, trying to find her way to the center but quickly becoming lost. She turned her gaze to the inside cover.

"Sarah Williams, November 8th, 1986." Twenty years ago. Intrigued, she turned the pages and began to read:

" _I know if I don't write everything down now I may forget it all. Every single thing about my journey into the Goblin King's kingdom I can recall at this moment, but I know how quickly things can change. So I found this book. Mom gave it to me the year before she passed away. I never had a reason to use it. Never, until now."_

Goblin King? So much for a journal. Sara must have used this to write down ideas for a story:

"… _as he disappeared I heard his voice echo in the wind. 'Such a pity.' At that time, I had to agree with him. I didn't want to enter the maze and rescue my brother, but I knew it was the right thing to do. The only thing. I hardened myself to the task and began my descent down the hill…"_

 _"... we made our way through the bog, with Sir Didymus as our fearless leader. We grew hungry. I realized I had never seen anything that could remotely pass for food here. Hoggle offered me a peach. The second I took a bite he ran off, muttering something about 'Jareth'. I knew even before I fell that I had been drugged..."_

Cassandra looked up. Good lord, what time was it? The light from the window was fading into a russet sunset. Almost six. Reluctantly, she got up and put the book down. Turning, she made her way back downstairs, thoughts of fantastical creatures and the seemingly devilish Goblin King swimming through her mind.


	2. Someone Take Me Away

**Chapter Two: Someone Take Me Away**

* * *

Well, _that_ had been a disaster.

Cassandra tossed her tote bag down on the floor by the front door and shrugged off her coat. It wasn't that anyone at the new school had been mean to her, or teased her, or made her feel stupid.

They simply did nothing at all.

It was as if she were invisible. Outside of the murmured 'hellos' from her classmates when the teachers introduced her, no one spoke a single word to her. To say she didn't fit in with the privileged Newport crowd was an understatement. Everyone here had grown up together, in their perfect little slice of New England life. They all knew each other. They all looked the same.

She walked up the stairs, glad her aunt wasn't home yet from work. Passing a small mirror in the upstairs hallway, she stopped and examined her reflection. Her hair was too straight to match the perfect waves of the girls in town, a natural shade of red that fell somewhere between copper and mud. Skin, much too pale for a beach town like this, sprinkled with freckles that were anything but uniform. Cassandra sighed. It was hopeless to ever think she'd be able to fit in.

Her eyes, a blue that seemed to shift in shades of gray to green, stared back out at her. "At least it's only another year, then I'll be able to leave." Off to college, where she wouldn't be the only person who was new to their surroundings. "Just a little bit longer."

A small movement out of the corner of her eye startled Cassandra, though when she spun around and squinted at the other end of the hallway, she couldn't see what had caught her attention.

 _Probably a mouse. Old houses are full of them._

Before she turned back around to walk into her room, she found her eyes drawn to the attic door. It had been a week since she was last up there, all the cleaning and unpacking leaving little time for exploring, but the memory of that funny little journal still flickered through her mind. Perhaps she'd take another look up there after dinner tonight.

* * *

"Cassandra, you aren't saying much about your first day at school." Ruby watched her niece over the rim of her wineglass.

"There isn't much to talk about." She pushed a bit of food across her plate, dreading the pep talk she knew was coming her way.

Ruby put her glass down and regarded the young woman across from her. "It will get better, you know. This town is a perfect new start for the both of us. I already had two sales at the gallery today." She smiled, willing her niece to join in. "Maybe we'll have enough for that trip to Europe we've been talking about taking this summer. You'd like that, right?"

"Of course." She tried to smile, though she knew it didn't look genuine.

They ate in silence for a few more moments before Ruby tried again.

"I miss them too, you know."

A sigh escaped Cassandra's lips. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just going to take be a bit to adjust. I'm going to run upstairs, I'm not terribly hungry."

As she walked away from the table, she felt the guilt settle onto her shoulders once again. It wasn't Ruby's fault. She was doing the best she could with suddenly inheriting a child she hadn't planned on. It wasn't fair for her to take it out on Ruby. All she was trying to do was reach out to her.

"None of this is fair." She whispered as she walked upstairs, making her way towards the attic.

At the top of the stairs, Cassandra was surprised to find a changed space. Ruby had done a thorough job sweeping out the area. A handful of lamps lit with the flip of the wall switch, filling the room with a warm glow. The sheets and furniture covers had been removed and folded neatly in one corner, awaiting laundry day. Artwork and mirrors had been stacked against a far dormer wall, obviously Ruby's main interest in the attic.

It felt almost cozy, this claustrophobic grouping of furniture. Like a madwoman's house, or something out of Alice in Wonderland. Cassandra smiled as walked over to where she had left the book a week earlier but stopped short the minute the chair came into view.

The journal was gone.

A survey of the room turned up a long bookcase, books stacked within and on top. She knelt down and searched the spines for the little journal. Fairy tales and Shakespeare, plays, books on fairies, and art. This must have been Sarah's collection. Along the bottom shelf a small stack of artist journals drew her attention. Opening one, Cassandra flipped through page after page of sketches depicting strange little goblins and fairies. The detail was amazing, obviously the girl who drew these had real talent. Why leave it all behind? She set the sketchbooks aside and kept up her search for the journal.

After another ten minutes searching the attic, she determined Ruby must have taken it. She walked back to the bookcase and picked up the stack of sketchbooks, settling into what she had dubbed 'her' chair, and continued her review of them. The sketches rotated between fantastical creatures and landscapes yet all seemed depict the same place, the labyrinth from the journal.

Another page and Cassandra stopped cold. This wasn't a goblin, or a fairy, or any other strange creature. It was a portrait, shaded and colored, of a striking man. She ran a finger lightly across the page, noticing the level of detail Sarah had added to this particular sketch. She must have spent hours on it. His eyes, ice blue, seemed to leap from the page and drew Cassandra in. Neatly, in a flowing script across the corner of the page, Sarah had written his name: Jareth, The Goblin King.

"The devil doth take a pleasing shape." Cassandra whispered to herself. "I never would have pictured Jareth to be a rock god from the other goblins." She smiled. "I wish I knew more about _you_ , Mr. Goblin King, you seem quite the character with that hair of yours."

A thin *pop* sounded in the room. She pulled her gaze away from the man in the picture and dropped the sketchbook as the journal, the journal that she had searched the attic up and down for, suddenly sat on a table in front of her.

"What the hell…"

She jumped up and looked around the room. The only beating heart in the room, now racing, belonged to Cassandra. She was alone. There had to be an explanation. She'd lost things before right in front of her. How many time had her sunglasses been on her head after a frustrating run about the house? That had to be it.

Still, as if it would rear up and bite her, Cassandra gingerly picked up the journal and opened it, flipping through to the end of Sarah's story:

 _"His eyes mesmerized me. As he held out the crystal and spoke in soft tones, I found myself drawn towards him. Would he indeed give me my dreams? Could he give me back my mother? As I asked myself that question reality came flooding back. Mom wasn't coming back, she had run off with her costar years ago. That was it. I had to stop trying to live a fantasy. Jareth recognized my determination and paled. As a last, desperate attempt, he thrust the crystal in my direction. 'Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave,' I gazed up into his eyes. I saw only desperation, no love, no humility. He only wanted to win. I wasn't about to let him. Struggling, I remembered the final line. 'You have no power over me.' Suddenly my world turned again, the ground under my feet seemed to shift, and the next thing I knew I was home."_

"Brave move, if he was anything in person like your drawing of him."

Wait, when had she suddenly considered this a possible reality? She shook her head. This was insane. She flipped back through to the beginning. Really, it was just like reading a fairytale:

 _"I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now.' I turned the light out and suddenly, after a clap of thunder, all was silent. Toby had stopped crying."_

Cassandra closed the book and looked down at the sketchbook now on the floor, still open to the portrait of the Goblin King. That was the temptation with fantasy stories, they were just crazy enough to seem real. They offered escape from the nightmares, from life.

"I wish someone _would_ come and save me from this life." She whispered softly.

Thunder rumbled off in the distance. A storm must be blowing in off the sea.

* * *

Somewhere, far away, in a dark room, a pair of yellow eyes opened.

"Listen…."

* * *

Cassandra walked over to the small window and looked out across the yard. A large tree, as tall as the house, swayed in the growing breeze. Across the horizon, the sky lit up here and there as the storm moved closer to the shore. Opening the journal in her hands – no way she was letting it out of her sight now – she read about the young girl, wishing her brother away, facing a great adventure, learning about love and friendship in the process.

"This would have sold millions of copies, why didn't you publish this? Well, you're lucky, all the same. You escaped, Sarah, maybe only in fantasy, but you did escape." She laughed. "Looks like Jareth might have given you your wish after all."

The wind began to whistle through the windowpane. Thunder sounded, much closer now. A nervous electricity flowed through Cassandra, and she opened the book and flipped to a page. Nodding, she shut it again.

"Ok goblins, try this on for size."

* * *

The creature opened its eyes even wider. "She's going to say the words!"

Another goblin turned and slapped the first on the head. "Shut up. She doesn't even have a child to wish away!"

"Oh."

* * *

"I wish…." She walked across the room, absently tapping the journal against her leg.

"I wish…"

* * *

"Wait, what if she _does_ say the words?"

Muttering filled the room. What would they do? A small voice piped up, "We'll take her then!"

"But she's alone, who would journey through the labyrinth to save her?"

"We had better stop her then!"

"How? You think we can just pop in there and say 'excuse me miss, I know you don't think I exist, but would you be a dear and stop wishing for things'? How the frack do you think _that_ would go over?"

"Let's hope she doesn't say them."

"Too late."

"Listen…"

"She's going to say the words."

* * *

"I wish for a million dollars. I wish I had hair that curled, and people to be friends with who didn't look like extras from a teen soap opera. I wish Ruby would let me have a cat! No, make that two cats…I wish I wasn't allergic to cats, for that matter."

* * *

A collective sigh reverberated through the room.

"That was close."

"Should we tell Jareth?"

"No! What he doesn't know won't hurt us…."

* * *

She was really getting into it now. As the storm grew outside Cassandra began to spin around.

"I wish my freckles were gone and I didn't have such freaky eyes. Brown would be nice, I think. I wish for three more wishes! I wish for the Nile!"

She stopped spinning as lightning lit up the room in harsh white. That was close. Holding the book closer to her chest she sighed. "I wish my parents hadn't died. I wish things were the same as they used to be. I wish I didn't feel so empty."

Cassandra brushed a hand across the journal, her fingers resting on the initials on the cover.

"I wish the goblins would come and take _me_ away right now."

Thunder loud enough to shake the house crashed outside.

The power failed.

Silence followed.


	3. Where Are You Going?

**Chapter Three: Where Are You Going?**

* * *

"What the devil do you mean there's a _girl_ in my kingdom," the voice ricocheted through the long corridor, "Who was stupid enough to bring someone over when I expressly forbade it?"

Goblins scattered, hiding behind statues or skirting into open doorways. Those that didn't move quickly enough flattened themselves against the walls as Jareth the Goblin King stormed past, a stout creature in a Guards uniform following behind him, stuttering and running to catch up.

"But…but…your greatness, we're obligated to bring anyone here who says the right words, it's in the rules."

"I didn't ask you for a lesson on the rules of my own kingdom, Handel. She didn't ask for a child to be taken away, you fool, she wished for herself! The only way that should even work anymore is if…" He stopped suddenly, turning on the goblin.

"Where did you take her _from_?"

Handel wasn't sure how to answer this question without getting a swift kick in return, so he didn't say a word, just stared at the stone floor beneath him.

With an exasperated sigh, Jareth started walking forward again. "Well, where is she, then?"

* * *

Everything hurt. Warm red light pushed against her eyelids, and her whole body felt as if she had been hit by a truck. She remembered standing in the attic, a huge clap of thunder and then… nothing. Had she been struck by lightning? Was that possible?

Slowly, she opened her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright light, but she could tell she was lying on the ground, red earth beneath her. She was outside? How did she get outside?

"What…"

Cassandra pulled herself up, muscles protesting as she raised into a sitting position, leaning against a low stone wall. She took in her surroundings. The sky, a ruddy, hazy orange, stretched above her. It looked like she was in some sort of abandoned courtyard, a fountain in the center depicting goblins…

"Goblins? No. No, that's not possible."

She must have fallen and hit her head. This was a dream. A very painful dream that she was certain to wake up from any moment now…hopefully not in a hospital somewhere.

* * *

"Really, brother, is it such a disaster that they brought her here?" He waved an elegant hand over a large crystal ball. "Though they might have been a bit gentler, I wager." The dark haired man gestured to the image within it.

Jareth crossed the room and leaned across the table his brother was sitting at, peering into the crystal at the woman who lay still on the ground outside the labyrinth. "They're used to carrying much smaller babies, I suppose. Must have dropped her along the way. Damnit, what am I supposed to do with her, Stephan?" He walked over and slumped across his throne. "She didn't wish away a child, and she's not a child herself."

"I suppose you'll want to check the Book," Stephan offered, "though I wouldn't mind a new addition to my Court."

"She's too old to take as a Changeling, and human women were never your thing, Stephan."

He shrugged. "First time for everything. It's been hundreds of years since I've met a proper mortal woman. Perhaps I'm bored."

With a snort, Jareth stood up. "I'm going to the library. Keep an eye on her for now and let me know if she wakes."

* * *

Something was buzzing around in the air, dragonflies, maybe? Cassandra squinted as one flew close to where she sat. Darting in and out, it moved too quickly for her to focus on, but it looked like one of those strange creatures in Sarah's sketchbook.

"This can't be happening." She watched as it slowed its movement and landed lightly on her arm, wings fluttering every few seconds. "You can't be real. I'm dreaming."

As if intending to prove quite the opposite was true the fairy smiled and proceeded to sink teeth like little needles into her arm.

"Aaah!" Cassandra flung the creature off her arm, rubbing where it had just bit her.

"Ok, so maybe I'm not dreaming." She slowly stood up and began to dust off her clothes, focusing on the walls surrounding the courtyard. A large gate was set into a wall opposite where she stood. "I suppose we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

High pitched giggles and hissing echoed around the courtyard.

"And I'm willing to bet those aren't munchkins."

* * *

Stephan watched the crystal with interest. The young woman seemed to be taking things in stride, so far. Covered in dirt and obviously in pain, she held her head high, almost defiant. He wondered what her story was; how she ended up here.

He turned to where his brother had walked out of the throne room, a puzzled expression on his face. Stephan could have sworn his brother said the only human who could ever enter his kingdom again with a wish would be Sarah, and the last time she had….well, it was better to forget that altogether. Too many sad memories.

"So who _are_ you, poppet?" He muttered at the figure in the crystal. "And how did you survive the trip here with no magic to protect you?"

* * *

"I know you're out there, you might as well come out and face me." If her voice shook a little, Cassandra chose to ignore the fact. "I'm not scared of you!" She flicked another fairy out of her face and leveled a glare around the courtyard.

She had just begun to walk towards the gate in the wall when a scuttling noise sounded behind her. She turned. Standing just a few feet away from her was a small, ugly, wrinkled creature with bright blue hair. It smelled like rotten eggs. Cassandra narrowed her eyes.

"A goblin, I presume?"

It grinned, rotted yellow teeth taking up most of its face.

"Right, a goblin."

She kicked it as hard as she could and ran across the yard, searching for anything she might use as a weapon.

* * *

Jareth returned to the room flipping through an old leather book. "Ok, I think I've found something. Stephan, I thought I told you to inform me the minute she woke up!" He slammed the book shut and pushed the dark haired man out of the way of the crystal. "What the hell is going on there?"

"I'd say she's met the welcoming committee. It's fascinating how much damage she's able to do with a tree branch. She took out two of them in one sweep a minute ago." Stephan smiled. "Honestly, if you're looking for something to do with her she'd make a decent bodyguard."

"Shut up." Jareth scowled at the crystal. "I need to get down there before she does something incredibly stupid."

"You said you figured out what happened?"

"The impossible, apparently." Jareth pulled a crystal out of the air and met his brother's brown eyes across it. "Either way, the Book was quite explicit what to do with her."

"That doesn't sound promising."

Jareth didn't respond as he disappeared from the room. Stephan sighed and walked over to the book, wondering if he should find out what it said. Perhaps later. For now, there was a crystal to watch that would only get more entertaining as time passed.

* * *

Another goblin went sailing away from her. Others were lying on the ground, incapacitated. Still more came at her, though, a seemingly endless stream. Her arms burned from the exertion of swinging the branch around. Cassandra knew she wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.

She felt the air behind her shift. This wasn't a goblin, and even if it were, it was much taller than the ones she had dealt with so far. Cassandra reacted, spinning to face her enemy while swinging the branch with the last of her strength.

A hand shot out impossibly fast and grabbed the branch, stopping its arc and shaking Cassandra to her core.

"Well, well, well. Just what do you think _you_ are doing?"

She stared at the chest before her for a stunned moment, leather and metal armor surrounding a torso that most certainly did _not_ belong to a goblin. She tilted her head to look up into the face of the portrait. The strokes of Sarah's colored pencils, as detailed as they were, didn't begin to do justice to the man standing before her. Cassandra found herself torn between a sarcastic remark and open admiration.

Sarcasm won.

Not breaking his gaze (she wasn't quite sure she could if she tried) Cassandra straightened her shoulders. "I was having a game of cricket with your friends here."

"Is that so?" A high arched brow inched higher. "Quite a violent game, it seems," he threw the stick away from them both and stepped in closer, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Now, what shall we do?"

"Hire a better welcoming committee?"

He tilted his head slightly, still smiling that half smile. Cassandra felt her heart begin to race. Every instinct in her body was telling her to run. The man standing in front of her, no matter how appealing, oozed danger. Her bravado cracked, and she swallowed hard, trying to force her heart back down where it should have been.

The smile grew. "I'll rephrase my question, then. What shall we do with _you_?"

* * *

A/N: I'd really REALLY love to hear what you're thinking of the story so far!


	4. You Have Thirteen Hours

A/N: Thank you all for the kind words for this story! I'm working on getting a few more chapters to you this week.

* * *

 **Chapter Four: You Have Thirteen Hours**

* * *

"I'll rephrase my question, then. What shall we do with _you_?"

He watched the girl closely, noting her boldness didn't quite make it to her eyes. One last attempt at strength, fading quickly.

"Don't you give me a choice? Can't you send me home?"

"Send you back now, when we haven't been properly introduced? Wouldn't that be rude?" He swept into a courtly, if mocking, bow. "I am Jareth, King of the Goblins." Straightening he captured her hand and smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, miss….."

He held back a laugh as she just stared at him for a moment, her eyes blinking while a blush crept across her freckled face. Her response, when it finally came, fell somewhere between a whisper and a squeak.

"Cassandra."

"Ah. Such a lovely name. Do you know the story of Cassandra of Troy?" She yanked her hand free, but Jareth stepped forward to invade her space. He wouldn't deny it, watching the breath hitch in her throat sent a little thrill through him. It felt good to be feared again, to be desired again. Stronger than he'd felt in years.

"A beautiful princess of Troy, she caught the eye of Apollo. Falling in love with her, he granted her the gift of sight. But Cassandra didn't return his affection, and her denial spurned Apollo to curse her. She always prophesized the truth, though no one ever believed her. Troy fell, and she had to sit by and watch at the destruction. All because she thought herself strong enough to deny a god." He reached up and slid one leather gloved finger lightly across her jaw.

"So, Cassandra not-of Troy, what compelled _you_ to wish yourself to my labyrinth?"

She froze at his touch, a little wide-eyed rabbit. "I thought it was all made up. Just a story."

His hand slipped down along her arm, gripped her elbow and pulled her close enough to whisper the next words. "I assure you _this_ story is quite real."

This close to her, Jareth examined her face. He had met many women over the centuries who were far more beautiful, yet Cassandra's eyes were like nothing else he'd seen. Stunning pools of tempestuous blue, almost grey, and currently undecided if they wanted to focus on his eyes or his lips. He found himself wondering which he'd prefer, himself.

"But Sarah's book said…"

He stepped back abruptly, the spell broken.

"What _book_?"

Impossible. It had been destroyed. He'd watched Sarah throw the red volume into the fire with his own eyes, remembered the tears streaming down her face as she did so. The magic dissolving around them as Sarah disappeared from his kingdom for the last time.

"There's no book." He watched as Cassandra frantically searched the area. Though she stood completely still, her eyes gave her away.

The Goblin King followed her gaze to the spot where she had first arrived. There, partially buried in the dirt was a slim journal. Her eyes flew back to his.

He waited patiently as she took off running, then flicked a hand through the air, watching with no little amusement as the book disappeared right as she reached for it, only to reappear in his hand.

"What's this, then?" He turned it over and brushed the dirt off the cover. The initials S.W. left him no doubt as to its owner. However, the faintest of magic radiated off of it, which was certainly unexpected as Sarah had no magical abilities that he knew of…

Cassandra shot forward and tried to snatch the book from his hands. He held it up out of her reach.

"That's not fair! Give it back!"

"Tsk, tsk. Aren't you a bit old for tantrums?"

* * *

Stephan still wasn't quite sure what he was watching unfold in the crystal, but he had been correct earlier; it certainly wasn't _boring_.

His brother was in rare form, embracing the persona of the dangerous and seductive king he'd cultivated over the years. Jareth was toying with the girl; that much was certain, rather like one of the cats who wandered this castle would a rat it planned on having for dinner.

Turning once again to the book on the table, Stephan opened it up and flipped through the pages. The magic of the Goblin Kingdom followed a rigid set of guidelines, much stricter than those of his own fey lands.

"Children, parents, lovers, enemies, hmm… here we are, 'solitary wishes'." He read on in the passage which detailed what befell those who wished themselves to the labyrinth. He understood why Jareth had said it was impossible for the girl to be here now:

 _Visitors who come with a solitary purpose, through the magic of the Book, shall be tested by the land to face the demons of their own creating. Those strong of magic themselves who travel the Mirror Paths, to prove their worthiness to inherit its gifts. The test of the Labyrinth itself shall be performed alone, no magical being may interfere in the journey. Failure of the test shall render the soul forfeit to the land._

"Strong of magic themselves," he wondered aloud as closed the book and turned back to the crystal. "She didn't travel the Paths, but the Book is gone. How mysterious…"

Stephan was suddenly quite glad he had decided to pay his brother a visit. This was _almost_ exciting.

* * *

Cassandra took a deep breath and crossed her arms in frustration. "Fine. Whatever. Take it. It's what got me into this godforsaken place to begin with. Just send me home."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"It's in the rules."

"The _rules_? Aren't you supposed to be the King here? Don't you _make_ the rules?"

"I rule my kingdom, not the magic of it. Magic always demands a price, Cassandra. No one is immune." His voice shifted, carrying and filling the space surrounding them. "You have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth..."

"No. Wait. Please, I just want to go home."

"…if you fail, you become one of us, forever."

A Cheshire grin lit his face as he dissolved, his next words hanging on the air:

" _Such a pity…"_

As he disappeared, the gate in the wall came into focus for her. With a loud creak, the doors slowly opened and the labyrinth beckoned.

Cassandra felt her spirits drop. She had never been any good at solving mazes. Once, when she had been a young girl, she'd became impossibly lost in a fun-house maze. Her parents found her an hour later, leaning against a grotesque mirror, crying and holding her knees tight against her chest.

 _One of us, forever._ The words of the Goblin King echoed through her head. What did that mean? Did she become a goblin? Would she never see Ruby again?

 _Stop._

She mentally shook herself. Cassandra wasn't a child anymore, she had been through too much so far in life for a maze to frighten her.

"Thirteen hours. I have time."

With a deep breath she walked through the gates into the labyrinth. They creaked shut behind her, locking her in.

"Well, here goes nothing."

* * *

"Nice exit."

Jareth walked across the room, removing his leather gloves as he spoke. "I suppose you watched the whole thing?"

Stephan shrugged. "Could you blame me? Such riveting entertainment. Besides, it's usually so _bloody_ boring here."

"Then go home."

"Are you kidding? Not until we get to the bottom of this little flame haired mystery. I read the rules. Does she have magic?"

Jareth frowned. "I don't know. She had this," he tossed Sarah's journal to his brother. "There's a hint of magic on it, but I've no idea how it got there."

He flipped through the journal. "Your Sarah was quite the little artist, wasn't she? Oh, I rather like this passage:

" _As he held out the crystal and spoke in soft tones, I found myself drawn towards him. Would he indeed give me my dreams…?"_ Stephan laughed as the book disappeared from his hands. "What? Scared of what I might read in there?"

Jareth changed the subject. "If you read the rules, you know we cannot interfere on her behalf."

"Come now, your labyrinth isn't unsolvable."

"Stephan, _no one_ has ever made it through the labyrinth without help."

"We did."

Jareth turned and frowned at the vision of the young woman walking through the stone labyrinth in the crystal.

"We had each other."


End file.
